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The graduate program in the Department of Sociology at CU Boulder seeks to train creative and productive scholars and teachers. The department maintains a strong emphasis in the theories and methods of the discipline with strengths in the following areas:

The department offers a PhD program focusing on teaching, researching, and training in theory and methods. The program is designed for students seeking a PhD and students obtain their master’s en route to the PhD, thus we do not offer a separate MA program. More information about program specifics can be found in the Graduate Handbook.

Graduate students will meet with faculty advisors during their time at CU Boulder to foster social integration at the university as well as research interests. Financial support is given to students serving as teaching assistants (TAs). A teaching assistantship is a fulfilling position that allows students to further their understanding of a specific area of study while gaining knowledge in instructing at the university level.

Additionally, advanced graduate students are encouraged to teach their own courses as graduate part-time instructors (GPTIs). The department encourages graduate students to pursue opportunities for funded research wherever possible and supports the efforts of other university units in which students may seek financial support for their research, such as the Institute of Behavioral Science. Aside from teaching and research, the University of Colorado Boulder offers a wide array of courses for graduate students taught by a diverse and well-regarded faculty.

Department faculty and graduate students organize regular brown-bag workshops in which they discuss and obtain feedback on research in progress and also invite external speakers to present works in progress. These workshops include: 

• Criminology and Criminal Justice (Faculty contact: David Pyrooz)
• Culture, Power, and Inequality (Faculty contacts: Mathieu Desan and Rachel Rinaldo)
• Population and Health (Faculty contact: Ryan Masters)

The goal of the Sociology Graduate Student Collective is to strengthen graduate student representation in departmental decision making.